Tank cover



April 25, 1967 w. s LEVY TANK covEn 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I Filed Feb. 25, 1966 W. G. LEVY TANK COVER A ril 25, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 25, 1966 jsgl 'jo m? FIG. 3

United States Patent Office 3,316,048 TANK COVER William G. Levy, P.O. Box 179, North Conway, N.H. 03860 Filed Feb. 25, 1966, Ser. No. 530,189 4 Claims. (Cl. 312-290) The present invention relates to a tank cover for housing gas containing bottles and similar articles.

It is a principal object of the invention to provide a novel and improved tank cover constructed and arranged to be opened up completely, including the removal of front, sides, and top to expose the bottled gas tanks and all their working parts, so that replacement or service thereon is in no way obstructured or hindered by the cover.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a tank cover of simple and inexpensive construction consisting of prebuilt sections which are portable and easily erected to provide an inexpensive structure from which all unnecessary parts have been eliminated.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention shown said sections comprise a hinged left side and a front door hinged to said side, a second section consisting of a hinged right side and a right front door hinged to said side, and the third section consisting of a hinged top. Each of these sections is particularly constructed and arranged to be hinged to the side of a house, garage or similar structure thereby eliminating the usual back Wall and floor of the tank cover. Cleats mounted on the under side of the cover act when the sides, doors, and cover are closed to maintain the entire assembly in the closed position.

The several features of the invention will be readily understood by one skilled in the art from the following descrpition taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tank cover embodying a preferred form the several features of the invention; FIG. 2 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1, but with the cover raised, and showing the several pre-built sections secured in place against a supporting wall;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary plan section on an enlarged scale taken on a line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan section on an enlarged scale taken on a line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary plan section on on scale taken on a line 5-5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view in front eleenlarged vation on an enlarged scale taken on a line 6-6 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a sectional plan view of the tank cover taken on a line 7-7 of FIG. 1, the sides and doors being shown closed in full lines and partially opened out in dot and dash lines; and

FIG. 8 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 7, but with the side and door sections fully opened.

The tank cover illustrated in the drawings comprises a left hand side and door section 20, a right hand side and door section 22, and a cover section 24 each of which is adapted to be shipped and to be mounted as a separate unit on the side wall of a dwelling or other suitable structure, as indicated at 25 in FIG. 2. The side panel and door section 20 comprises a vertical stud 26 which is adapted to be secured to a suitable wall surface 25. A left hand side panel 30 is mounted by means of hinges 32 on the stud 26 to swing outwardly away from the enclosed space. A stud 34 rigidly secured to the front edge of the side panel 30 provides support for hinges 36 and a left hand front door 38, the hinges being arranged to permit swinging movement of the doors 38 inwardly With 3,316,948 Patented Apr. 25, 1967 wall 30 to the partially folded position indicated in dot and dash lines in FIG. 7 and to the fully folded position shown in FIG. 8.

The right hand side panel and door section 22 is identical with the left hand side panel and door section 20 but in reverse, comprising a stud 40 adapted to be secured to the wall surface 25 and having connected thereto the right hand side panel 44 which swings outwardly on hinges 46. A stud 48 secured to the outer edge of the right hand side wall 44 provides support for hinges 50 and a right hand door 52 permitting the side panel and door unit to be readily swung from the tank enclosing position of FIG. 7 to the fully folded position of FIG. 8. A vertical strip 53 secured to the inner face of the door 52 along the inner edge thereof is arranged to project behind the adjacent edge of door 381.

The cover section 24 comprises a cross bar 54 to which is attached a cover 56 adapted to be swung upwardly to the vertical open position of FIG. 2 on hinges 58. The cross bar 54 is secured to the wall surface 25 as shown in FIG. 2. After the side panel and door sections 20 and 22 have been moved to the closed position of FIG. 2 the cover 56 is in position to be swung downwardly from the open position of FIG. 2 to the closed position if FIG. 1. In order that the side panel and door sections may be securely held in the closed position the under surface of the cover 56 has mounted thereon a series of cleats including two side cleats 60, 62 which engage opposite sides of the left side wall 30, cleats 64, 66 which engage opposite sides of the right hand side wall 44 and two cross cleats 68 and 70 which engage respectively the outside faces of the doors 38 and 52, and the inside strip 53.

The improved tank cover herein disclosed provides a simple, inexpensive and at the same time eflicient construction consisting only of the wall, door and cover elements essential for enclosing the gas filled. tanks and associated valve and pipe connections. The entire structure is adapted for shipping in three fiat package units. The plane cover areas represented by the side panels, doors and cover are preferably made of plywood. The studs and cross piece have been added for ease of fastening the units to an available wall surface, and to provide an adequate anchor for the several hinges employed. The present arrangement in which the several units are secured individually to an available wall surface, and in which the usual floor, back wall and framing elements have been dispensed with has the particular advantage that the side panel and door sections as well as the cover section when opened out are adapted to be folded against the wall surface, thereby completely exposing the tanks and associated valve and pipe connections for replacing of the tanks, servicing and the like.

The invention having been described, what is claimed relation to the side 1. A tank cover for battled gas tanks and similar articles adapted to be mounted on a suitable wall support having, in combination, a left hand side wall and door unit and a right hand side wall and door unit, each said unit comprising a plurality of hinged together side wall panel and door elements, and including a hinge connection for hinging the said side wall and door unit to a suitable wall support for movement between a closed and a folded back position, and a cover unit comprising a cover and a hinge connection attaching said cover to tion of said tank cover 2. A tank cover for bottled gas tanks and the like according to claim 1 in which each of said left and right side wall and door units comprises a wall supported stud, a panel hinged to said stud, and a door hinged to said panel.

3. A tank cover for bottled gas tanks and the like according to claim 2 in which cleats are mounted on the inside face of said cover located for the closed position of said tank cover at opposite sides of each of said panels and doors to maintain said panels and doors closed.

4. A tank cover for bottled gas tanks and the like according to claim 2 in which each said panel is hinged to swing outwardly and the attached door to swing inwardly for movement to a folded open position against the wall support,

and the cover is hinged to swing up- 1 wardly against said supporting wall to fully open out said tank cover.

References Cited by the Examiner 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS 243,958 7/1881 Osborne 312-290 X 303,959 8/1884 Dolcke 312-290 2,122,969 7/1938 Whitcomb 312-290 2,3 13,965 3/1943 Pierson et al 3 l2-100 2,728,624 12/1955 Caruso 312-290 3,101,226 8/1963 Cochran 31210O DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner.

r JAMES T. McCALL, Examiner. 0 

1. A TANK COVER FOR BATTLED GAS TANKS AND SIMILAR ARTICLES ADAPTED TO BE MOUNTED ON A SUITABLE WALL SUPPORT HAVING, IN COMBINATION, A LEFT HAND SIDE WALL AND DOOR UNIT AND A RIGHT HAND SIDE WALL AND DOOR UNIT, EACH SAID UNIT COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF HINGED TOGETHER SIDE WALL PANEL AND DOOR ELEMENTS, AND INCLUDING A HINGE CONNECTION FOR HINGING THE SAID SIDE WALL AND DOOR UNIT TO A SUITABLE WALL SUPPORT FOR MOVEMENT BETWEEN A CLOSED AND A FOLDED BACK POSITION, AND A COVER UNIT COMPRISING A 